


Strawberries & Cigerettes

by NoirAngel011



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Female Character of Color, Bisexual Male Character, Canon Queer Character of Color, Cigarettes, F/F, F/M, First Kiss, First Meetings, Mermista's POV, She/Her and They/Them Pronouns for Mermista, Underage Smoking, don't get into cars with stangers kids, very confusing emotions all around
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-03-27 11:40:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30122187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoirAngel011/pseuds/NoirAngel011
Summary: Mermista’s bisexual awakening smacks her upside the head in just one (1) night.The she/they Mermista fic I teased on Tumblr! Just a test to see if I want to continue doing it. It being referring to Mermista using she/her and they/them pronouns interchangeably throughout the story.
Relationships: Mermista & Perfuma (She-Ra), Mermista & Sea Hawk (She-Ra), Mermista/Perfuma (She-Ra), Mermista/Sea Hawk (She-Ra)
Kudos: 10





	Strawberries & Cigerettes

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the song Strawberries & Cigarettes by Troye Siwan. I think this could fit into my Etheria High series if you ignore a few things, but I’m going to leave it unconnected for now.
> 
> I actually got a beta reader for this one! So it should be pretty good, hopefully.

Mermista and Perfuma were laying on the latter’s fluffy yellow rug on the floor of her bedroom. Some hippie music Perfuma liked played from her record player in the corner. Mermista wasn’t quite sure what it was, but it sounded happy and bright. They likened it to the music equivalent of Perfuma herself. 

Both girls were damp from the pool they had just been in outside. They were wearing dry clothes but the rug was soaking up the water droplets from their hair.

Mermista sat up, running a hand through her hair. The ends were a bright blue with streaks coming down from her roots while the rest was a dark brown, almost black. Perfuma watched them from the corner of her eye.

“You okay?” she asked.

“What? Oh, yeah, I’m fine,” Mermista replied. She toyed with the hem of her bike shorts, the hot air outside drifting through the cracked window and making the room humid.

“You’re acting weird.” Perfuma sat up and took Mermista’s hands into hers. They wouldn’t meet Perfuma’s eyes. “What’s up? You know you can tell me anything.” 

Mermista shook her head. “It’s nothing, really.” They tried to assure her best friend.

Perfuma looked at her sternly. “You’re lying, I can tell. Your cheeks get all red when you do it.” Mermista glanced up at the mirror on Perfuma’s wall in front of her. Sure enough, their face was flushed.

“It’s just hot out.”

Perfuma sighed. “Fine, don’t tell.”

Perfuma dropped Mermista’s hands and went to lay back down when suddenly Mermista surged forward and grabbed her face. 

“Wha-” Perfuma was cut off by Mermista’s lips on hers. The fourteen-year-old moved with such certainty like she had been planning this for months.   
Perfuma returned the kiss, moving with Mermista as they pushed her back down onto the rug until the smaller girl was on top of her. Perfuma tasted like strawberries, and that was the only thing Mermista could think about, just the way Perfuma’s lips felt on hers. They were soft and sweet and Mermista decided they would like to stay in this moment forever. It was everything she had ever dreamed.

Mermista had been crushing on her best friend for as long as she could remember. Since moving to California from Flordia, they didn’t have many friends. Perfuma and Mermista became close as soon as they met in the sixth grade.

Mermista felt Perfuma wrap one arm around her waist and take their hand into hers with the other. Mermista really had no idea what she was doing, just that there was a buzz in her head telling her to never stop.

They hoped Perfuma was okay with this. _‘Fuck, I should have asked’_ she scolded herself in her head. Mermista tried to shake away the thought.

Eventually, they had to pull away for air. Mermista panted as they sat up.

Perfuma smiled at her, face equally flushed.

“That was-”

“Amazing?” Mermista asked, cutting her off. Perfuma nodded.

“Yes, amazing.”

Mermista blushed and looked away. She couldn’t meet Perfuma’s eyes.

“Uh, I think I should be getting home,” Mermista mumbled, beginning to gather their things.

“You sure?” Perfuma asked. Mermista nodded and didn’t say anything else.

She rushed out of Perfuma’s room and down the stairs. They ducked out the front door before Perfuma’s parents could wake up and catch her.

Once outside, she took a deep breath. That was so awkward, she felt awful. So many thoughts raced through their head. She was so scared she had just completely ruined their friendship with Perfuma.

Slowly, they walked away from the house and towards town. It was a quiet night and the stars were just starting to come out. She ran a hand through her damp hair. They glanced down at their phone. It was almost 8 pm. She had no notifications, unsurprisingly. Her dad never seemed to care where she was or what they were doing anymore. Not since her mom died, anyways.

There was a rest stop about a five-minute walk from Perfuma’s house. It had been the host of many sleepover snack raids over the years. When Mermista arrived, there were two cars in the parking lot. She didn’t take much notice of them and walked inside.

Their hands were shaking as they picked up a pack of Malboros cigarettes and threw them onto the counter. She tried to look tough and popped the back of her phone case off to retrieve the cash she kept there.

“Really, kid?” the attendant asked her, raising an eyebrow. He couldn’t have been that much older than Mermista, probably in high school.

“Yes, really.” Mermista set the money down on the counter.

He looked at her for a moment. “Whatever, it’s your health.” He rolled his eyes and rang up the cigarettes. Nobody in this town ever seemed to care about kids doing illegal things. It wasn’t what they expected from a small town in California, but it certainly made doing said illegal things a lot easier for Mermista, so she didn’t complain. 

She took her cigarettes and walked out of the brightly lit building as calm as they could. Once outside though, Mermista picked up her pace. They looked up and found a boy sitting on the hood of his car. He was toying with a lighter under the streetlamp. Bingo.

Mermista took the outer wrapping off of the cigarettes and slid it into the back pocket of their jeans. She opened the pack and took one out, walking up to the boy. “Light this,” they said, holding it out between two fingers. He looked at her skeptically. 

“Shouldn’t you be in bed?” he asked. Mermista glared at him.

“I’m not six, light the damn cigarette.” He looked at her for a moment before leaning over and lighting it. Mermista pushed herself up and sat down next to him on the hood of his car.

“What’s your name?” he asked as she took a drag.

“Who wants to know?” she shot back.

“The name’s Sea Hawk!” he said brightly. Mermista groaned and rolled their eyes.

“That’s the stupidest name, like, ever.”

“Well let’s hear your name, dearest.”

Sea Hawk moved closer to her and Mermista felt their face getting hot.

“It’s Mermista,” she said.

Sea Hawk studied her as she smoked. “You’re good at that for a middle schooler,” he said.

“I’m a Freshman,” they returned.

“Oh, do you go to EHS?” Mermista shook her head. 

“Nope, EFA. My, uh, friend Perfuma goes to EHS though.” Mermista averted their eyes as she thought about her and Perfuma’s kiss. She offered the cigarette to Sea Hawk. He took it and took a drag.

“You’re pretty,” he said as he handed it back to her. Mermista blushed and hoped he couldn’t see in the darkness. Of course, he could see, they were right underneath a _very bright_ streetlamp.

“Your face is dumb,” she said.

Sea Hawk laughed.

“So, Mermista, what brings you out here?”

Mermista looked down at their shoes. “Just walking,” they finally said after a minute.

“Want me to drive you home?” he asked.

“No way. I’m not supposed to get in cars with strangers. That’s like, rule number 1.” Mermista took another drag of her cigarette. It was almost burnt out and they smashed it against the hood of the car. 

“Well, can I call you an Uber?”

“In a little while. I don’t want to go home yet.” Mermista looked up to the night sky. Leftover smoke swirled around her. “Stars are pretty, aren’t they?” she asked to break the silence. 

“I’m looking at something that’s even prettier.” Mermista felt a hand on their face and looked down to watch Sea Hawk brush a strand of hair behind her ear. They blushed. 

“Ugh, I’m not that pretty,” she pushed his hand off of her. Their eyes fell to his lips and she couldn't help but wonder what they would feel like on hers.

“You’re right, you’re gorgeous.” 

Alarm bells were ringing in Mermista’s head. They were sitting on a practical stranger’s car and he was calling her gorgeous. She turned their head away.

“Wanna go ahead and call that Uber?” she asked all in one breath, nervous as they had no idea what to say anymore. Mermista was never this awful with words usually. She was a disaster tonight.

“Um, sure. Here, just order it on my phone and I’ll pay.” Sea Hawk passed them his phone with the app open. Mermista quickly punched in her address and current location then called the ride. They handed his phone back to him and tried to ignore the shake of her hands. The Uber pulled up a few minutes later and Mermista glanced at Sea Hawk.

“Well, that’s my ride. Thanks for… whatever you did tonight.”

“Maybe I’ll see you around, Mermista,” he said as she hopped down off the car.

“Yeah, see you around.” With that Mermista ran off towards the car.

She climbed into the backseat and shut the door behind her, collapsing against the headrest. They sighed as the car drove away. Suddenly, they remembered something. 

Shit, she had left her cigarettes on his car.


End file.
